Petrol prices in top cities were lowered by 8 paise on Friday, after the rates were kept unchanged on previous three days. Petrol will now cost ₹ 76.35 per litre in Delhi, ₹ 79.02 in Kolkata, ₹ 84.18 in Mumbai and ₹ 79.24 in Chennai, according to Indian Oil website.

On the other hand, diesel prices were kept unchanged on Friday, with the fuel retailing now at ₹ 67.85 in Delhi, ₹ 70.4 in Kolkata, ₹ 72.24 in Mumbai and ₹ 71.62 in Chennai.

After hitting an all-time high of ₹ 78.43 a litre for petrol in Delhi on May 29, rates have been cut on 15 occasions thereafter as global oil prices softened and the rupee strengthened against the US dollar. Since then, petrol prices are down over ₹ 2 per litre in Delhi.

Similarly, diesel prices, since May 29, are down by nearly ₹ 1.5 per litre in Delhi.

This compares to ₹ 3.8 a litre hike in petrol and ₹ 3.38 a litre hike in diesel rates in Delhi in the fortnight beginning May 14 when state-owned oil firms ended a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus to resume daily price revision. Driven by higher fuel prices, retail inflation accelerated in May to a four-month high of 4.87%.

Meanwhile, India has voiced its concern over high global crude prices with producers cartel Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). India imports about 80 per cent of its oil needs and eight of its top suppliers are from oil producers block. OPEC and its allies will meet on 22-23 June to review whether to unwind supply curbs put in place 18 months ago. The OPEC is likely to agree on a production increase next week to bring down prices, according to a Bloomberg survey.